Cocoa Scented
by Lavender Feline
Summary: A short but sweet venture into Taichi's mind on Valentine's Day. He's going to give someone chocolates...


Author Note: This was really really quickly written up and edited. Just a cute short little V-Day ficlet, very stream of consciousness type writing. I wasn't really planning for anything big, so everything that got written did so on its own. ^_~ Still, it's fluffy and cute, methinks. ^_^ Enjoy.

Cocoa Scented

Man, Valentine's Day is such a pain. Always has been, always will be. It's not that I don't like getting chocolate. Chocolate's great! Never let it be said that I turned down chocolate. But that's not really the problem. The problem is all that mushy stuff that you have to do to get the chocolate. First you gotta make sure at least a few girls like you or you won't get any. That means planning. 

Usually I just make sure to wink at a few girls, talk to 'em, be a little more social the week or so before V-Day hits. That way they all start to like me. Y'know, turn on the ol' Yagami charms, that sorta stuff. Not that I plan on dating any of them... I just wanna make sure I get at least a few boxes of chocolate.

Plus, if Yamato gets more than me again this year I don't think I'll be able to handle it. C'mon, I'm the captain of the soccer team! Just 'cause he's all blond and in a band doesn't mean he should be more popular than me! Last year I got five boxes. Not bad, right? But Yamato got like eleven. Not fair. 

Anyway, I'm getting off track. The real reason I hate Valentine's Day isn't all that stuff. I never had much of a problem with it before. Chocolate, sex (if you're lucky, unlike me...), and cute girls chasing after you? I can handle all that. It's this romance stuff I don't like. See, I've always avoided that part. Not like I've never been on a date before, but I've always avoided dates around this holiday. And romance isn't really one of my talents. The dates I go on usually entail your typical dinner and a movie, and sometimes a little 'extra curricular activity' if the girl is really crushing on me. Always good to get a few minutes of lip on lip time. Even hands-under-shirt time happens occasionally. I'm kinda hoping this year I'll finally get some de-pantsed time, too. At least, that was my original plan...

That was before I started thinking about him that way. Sure, I knew I was bi. Kinda hard not to realize when you're on a soccer team that uses public-style showers after practice. That's really not the problem. Girls, guys, I don't really care. Kissing them would be the same, making out with them would be different, but in a good way. Guys don't wear bras, which is kinda nice. Do you realize how hard it is to remove a bra while you're kissing someone? ...Well... I imagine it is, anyway. I've never actually gotten that far. Not for a lack of trying! I just tend to get hit. 

That's the other thing! Guys don't hit you for stuff like that. They just kinda like it. Girls gotta have all that emotional stuff, all that commitment, all that romance. I don't really understand girls. When girls crush on me they giggle and act all shy and weird. If they like me can't they just SAY so so I know to ask them out? Guys don't do that. He doesn't do that. I guess it's been pretty obvious that he's liked me for a while. I kinda tried to not think about it for a long time. He is a few years younger than me. But he likes me. I know he likes me. Which is of course why I ended up standing here, outside his locker, feeling incredibly stupid. 

And this stupid valentine's candy. Did you know it's impossible to find a box of chocolates that isn't heart shaped in February? It is. Believe me, I tried. They're all heart shaped. I kinda wanted to go for something a little less girly, but I didn't really get a choice in the matter. Then I wondered if it'd be better to give him something on White Day. I mean, Valentine's Day is when guys get gifts, not give them. And I'm a guy. So I shouldn't give chocolate to him today. Except... he's a guy, too. 

See? I'm doing it again. I've been doing this way too much lately. Thinking about it over and over, I mean. I don't usually bother thinking things through at all, let alone this crush stuff. I guess even I had to like someone eventually. And is it really a surprise that it turned out to be him? Who wouldn't like being told they're great and cool and wonderful all the time? Who wouldn't like a cute boy constantly idolizing you and chasing after you and calling you 'senpai'? Mmmm... I really like that part. 

...I'm getting distracted. I shouldn't be getting distracted, I'll start thinking about things, and now's really not the time. 'Cause he's coming this way now.

See why I hate Valentine's Day? Being nervous really isn't my style. Neither is buying girly heart shaped chocolates. Stupid holiday. Stupid lack of control over myself. Stupid... wow, he looks cute when he looks at me like that. Quick, Yagami. Look cool. Lean against his locker and give him one of your sexy grins. That's right, now he can't resist me.

"Taichi-senpai?" Daisuke asked me, cocking his head in that cute way he does when he's confused. "What're you doing here?"

"Oh, y'know. Just hanging out," I said, doing my best to sound cool.

"...In the junior high?" 

Damn. He's got me there. See, I'm in high school. I guess it does look kinda weird for me to come all the way over here without a reason. "Yeah." ....Oh, that was smooth.

"Oh." Daisuke sat his book bag down and opened his locker to put his books away. Science book, math book, lots of books. A few notebooks. No chocolate came out of his bag.

"Didn't anyone give you chocolate?" I asked him. I guess that wasn't really the smart thing to say, 'cause he kinda sulked and shook his head. 

"No... I don't usually get chocolate. It's okay. Dumb holiday anyway."

Aw, that's so sad. No chocolate? "Yeah, I only got a few this year, too." Actually, that was true. So far... but girls at my school usually gave out their chocolate after class. And since I was here, I wasn't going to get the rest of mine till I went back later. I'm sure there were at least a few boxes in my locker. See how girls don't make any sense? Why would you go buy someone chocolate and then put it in their locker so they don't know who it's FROM? What's the point there?

"Yeah," Daisuke mumbled. He looked really upset. Suddenly I wondered if I should have gotten that bigger box after all. But this stuff is expensive, and I was already digging into next month's allowance on this! And if he liked it I'd have to have money to take him out, too... so I got a smaller box. Damn... it would help if I could think straight, but my stomach is kinda doing this nervous thing, and I'm not used to feeling nervous. I hate Valentine's Day. I hate romance. I hate crushes. This is so stupid.

"Well... here." I yanked the stupid heart shaped box out of my bag and kinda shoved it at him. Maybe this was a bad idea after all. Maybe I should have waited, isn't it kinda tacky to do this on V-Day anyway? Maybe I should just stop thinking.

He kinda blinked at me and looked confused. "What's this? You need help carrying yours?" 

"Hey, I'm not that rude! I have manners! 'Course that's not it." How could he think that? That'd be insensitive even for me.

"...I don't want your chocolates, Taichi-senpai. Thanks, though. I don't need pity gifts." 

"Damnit, Daisuke, it's not a pity gift! It's for you!" 

There it was! There was that confused look where his nose kinda wrinkled up. Cute. "For me?"

"Yeah. For you. From me." I grinned at him and shoved it back at him. "So take it, okay?"

He took the box and stared at it for a long moment. He was quiet. I didn't like this. Did he like it? He wasn't actually going to reject me, was he?! I wasn't sure I could live that down. And... besides being embarrassing... it'd be depressing, too. I wasn't sure if I could take him rejecting me. Not after all this. 

"You uh... like them?"

"You got me chocolate?" His fingers clenched onto the box tightly and I was afraid he'd break it. He stared at me with this wide eyed expression that was so cute I couldn't help but smile. "For... for Valentine's Day? You got me chocolate?!"

"Yeah." My face was starting to hurt. The smile wouldn't fade. 

"...Why?!" Whoa, what was this? He looked kinda upset... like he thought I was about to laugh at him or something... so it didn't help when I did. I tried to stop laughing, honest! But I this was all so weird. I couldn't help it! "...Oh." He slumped a little and stared down at the floor, and I coulda sworn he started shaking. "It's a joke."

That's all it took to get me to stop. "No! No, it's not a joke! I'm sorry, Dai, I'm just... this's kinda... weird. But they're for you. From me. For Valentine's Day." I scratched the back of my neck sheepishly and grinned a bit at him, hoping he'd stop looking like he was about to cry. I never know what to do when people cry. "Y'know. Kinda traditional way of me saying I like you. And that we should go on a date. Maybe many dates."

He was warm. A lot warmer than I thought he'd be. It was still cold outside, and the school's heaters didn't do much to compensate for it most of the time. So when he hugged me suddenly, all I could think was that he was warm. "...Okay," was all he said. 

I grinned and hugged him back, nuzzling my face down into his hair and inhaling deeply. He smelled like chocolate.


End file.
